Hours from kickoff in Berlin, and Jesse Owens Allee, the street that leads to the entrance of the Olympic Stadium, is packed with fans. Men and women wearing team colors are chanting, singing, laughing, everywhere. Crafty, local entrepreneurs do brisk business with two-Euro beers, sold from carts, wagons, buckets—anything that can hold ice. Others wander the crowds collecting empties: at 15 cents a bottle, there's money to be made.
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People are everywhere, but the stadium is still empty, looming, waiting. It's a familiar scene, in a way. It's not the first major event to take place inside these walls. The stadium—one of Europe's most historic—has seen World Cup finals, Olympic gold medal events, political rallies. It plays host to the local Bundesliga side, Hertha Berlin, but it's these monumental events the stadium specializes in, by design.In 1933, seeing obvious propaganda potential, the newly-in-power Nazi party took over the Olympic Stadium's planning. At Hitler's direction, the existing stadium was destroyed and this one built in the most imposing manner possible: a towering, stone facade, an opening at one end that serves as a kind of stage—a centerpiece. Indeed, the first event the stadium hosted was a propaganda rally, where Hitler paraded in front of 110,000 spectators.While built to display the power of the Third Reich, the events that unfolded within didn't go to plan for the Nazis. During the 1936 Olympics, an event the Nazis hoped would prove the physical superiority of the "German race," Jesse Owens, the African-American sprinter, spoiled the party. He defeated Hitler's master race, taking home four gold medals. When, 9 years later, the Nazis were defeated for good, the stadium wasn't destroyed. Instead, they removed all the Nazi symbology and named the street out front after Owens.To this day, you can't get here without remembering Owens' upset, perhaps the greatest of all time.As of this writing, Barcelona is 8/13 to win. Will we see another?